Study: Scoping review finds general anesthesia may lead to cognitive deficits

Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs) are one of the most common postoperative complications. Research and investigation into whether or not exposure to general anesthesia contributes to PNDs continues to be investigated.

The first pre-clinical studies scoping review in the perioperative neurocognitive disorder field has demonstrated cognitive deficits after general anesthesia, with considerations to age and duration of exposure as risk factors.

In this scoping review, which maps the literature across a field, Dr. Beverley Orser and team analyzed 106 articles and reported that treatment with a general anesthetic drug may be linked to cognitive deficits that persist after surgery when there is no longer anesthetic in an individual’s system.

This study has been published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.